The MicroOptical Corporation Raises $11.5M; Video eyewear revolutionizes video display on portable devices.WESTWOOD, Mass. -- The MicroOptical Corporation, the leader in the emerging video eyewear market, today announced it has raised $11.5M in financing. The investment round was led by Atlas Venture Atlas Venture is an international early-stage venture capital firm that invests in communications, information technology, and life sciences companies. Atlas Venture has investing offices in Boston, London, Munich, and Paris, and its investments are evenly divided between the and included The Hillman Hillman was a famous British automobile marque, manufactured by the Rootes Group. It was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England, from 1907 to 1976. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles. Company, Intel Capital and Turner Broadcasting. The funding will be used to accelerate manufacturing operations Manufacturing operations concern the operation of a facility, as opposed to maintenance, supply and distribution, health, and safety, emergency response, human resources, security, information technology and other infrastructural support organizations. for the myvu(TM) video eyewear product, finance next generation technology development, and build out the global sales and distribution channel. Atlas Venture partners Ahmet Ozalp and Barry Fidelman will join The MicroOptical Corporation Board of Directors. "Until now, video displays on portable media devices have been limited in size due to the small form factor. Myvu personal media viewer transforms the user's experience by creating a large-screen effect integrated into eyeglasses eyeglasses or spectacles, instrument or device for aiding and correcting defective sight. Eyeglasses usually consist of a pair of lenses mounted in a frame to hold them in position before the eyes. ," said Mark Spitzer, founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of The MicroOptical Corporation. "We are pleased to have secured funding from top-tier venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] and led by Atlas Venture. The funding is a key step in accelerating the adoption of video eyewear." The myvu personal media viewer is an eyewear product that plugs directly into the audio-video connector on the latest media players, iPods and video-enabled wireless handsets so that users can watch downloaded music videos, TV shows or other video content in on-the-go situations. The myvu product projects a virtual image from the media player that creates an experience equivalent to that of a television in a living room environment. The larger screen in the myvu video eyewear makes it easier to watch any video; and by placing the display system in eyewear, the product significantly improves viewing comfort. For more information on the myvu personal media viewer, visit www.myvu.com. "An entirely new product category is emerging around displays for new portable digital media devices," said Ahmet Ozalp, partner at Atlas Venture. "Myvu provides a very attractive alternative to the small displays on most portable media devices, especially for longer format content such as movies and television shows. The product is very synergistic synergistic /syn·er·gis·tic/ (sin?er-jis´tik) 1. acting together. 2. enhancing the effect of another force or agent. syn·er·gis·tic adj. 1. with the portable media strategies of content companies and service providers as well as manufacturers of portable media players and advanced cell phones. We believe MicroOptical, with its deep domain expertise and its strong patent portfolio, will be a key player in this emerging market." "Intel has been following MicroOptical's development for several years and we are excited to be investing in a pioneer in personal media displays for delivering lower power, more portable media viewing experiences," said Sriram Viswanathan, Vice President and Managing Director of Intel Capital's Mobility Investment Sector. About Atlas Venture Atlas Venture is a leading early-stage international venture capital firm that invests in technology and life sciences businesses in the U.S. and Europe. Since its inception in 1980, its partners have helped build over 300 companies in more than 15 different countries. In the past decade, 40 portfolio companies have been acquired and 37 are now public companies with an aggregate market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. of over $12 billion. Atlas Venture is currently investing from its seventh fund and manages over $2 billion in capital through offices in Boston, London, Munich, and Paris. For more information, visit www.atlasventure.com About Intel Capital Intel Capital, Intel's venture capital organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$4 billion in more than 1,000 companies spanning more than 30 countries. During this time, about 160 portfolio companies have been acquired and another 150 have gone public on exchanges around the world. In 2005, Intel Capital invested about US$265 million in about 140 deals, with approximately 60 percent of funds invested outside the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com. About Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (often abbreviated TBS Networks or TBS, inc.) is the company managing the collection of cable networks and properties started by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner from the mid-1970s to the late-1990s. , Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and a leading provider of programming to the basic cable industry. About MicroOptical The MicroOptical Corporation is the leading developer and manufacturer of eyewear viewers for the portable electronic industry. Its research team has developed a range of highly ergonomic ergonomic - Concerning ergonomics or exhibitting good ergonimics. eyewear products, including the myvu(TM) personal media viewer, that connect to personal, military, industrial and medical electronic devices, ranging from cell phones and media players to patient monitoring equipment and thermal weapon sights. MicroOptical is at the forefront of the electronics and video eyewear revolution and its products have received widespread industry recognition from Macworld, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times, Newsweek, Popular Science and USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. . The company is privately held and based in Westwood, Mass. For more information, visit www.microoptical.net or www.myvu.com |
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